Meralco’s Allein Maliksi doesn’t want ‘cheap shots, dirty plays’ in PBA Finals

With the series tied at one game apiece entering Sunday’s Game 3, both the Meralco Bolts and the San Miguel Beermen were dead-set on securing the series lead in the PBA Philippine Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The already heated match picked up even more in the second period after the Bolts’ Allein Maliksi and the Beermen’s Jeron Teng figured in a verbal altercation with 3:12 to go before halftime, resulting in technical fouls for both players.

Maliksi spoke about how he felt about the physicality after the game.

"The first time kasi closed fist sa mata eh tapos ‘yung pangalawa naman, hindi ko naman siya binangga or anything [pero] parang tinukuran niya ako sa leeg," Maliksi said post-game.

"Eh siyempre, ako, I wanted to send a message na pangalawang beses na ‘yan eh, you can touch me sa baba ng shoulders pero above the shoulders, sa neck, sa mukha, medyo, for me, sobra na kaya kinonfront ko na siya."

[The first time it was a closed fist near the eye and the second one I didn’t bump him or anything but he propped himself up on my neck. Of course, I wanted to send a message that this was the second time, you can touch me below the shoulders but above the shoulders, the neck, the face, for me, that’s too much so I had to confront him.]

He added that the issue was settled between the two players.

"Pero sabi ko after naming ma-techhnical, ‘wag na lang niyang gawin and maglaro na lang nang maayos. Ayon lang ‘yung mga ayokong mangyari, ‘yung mga cheap shots, dirty plays," the 36-year-old veteran added.

"Maganda na ‘yung laban eh, so hindi na kailangan ‘yung mga gano’n."

[I said after the technical foul, just don’t do it again and play clean. I just don’t want any cheap shots, dirty plays… It’s already an intense game, none of this is necessary.]

In the end, Maliksi’s Bolts got the better of the Beermen, as they held off the defending champions to pull off a 93-89 escape for a highly-welcome 2-1 series lead.

Chris Newsome once again starred for Meralco, scattering 26 points on top of four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal while Raymond Almazan bounced back from a scoreless outing in Game 2, churning out a double-double with 17 markers and 13 boards.

For Maliksi, though, the job is far from done as they expect a massive effort from the Beermen come Game 4.

"Heartbreaking loss ‘yung last game so it’s a relief na nakuha namin ‘yung win today pero ayun nga, marami pa rin talagang lapses, marami pa ring mali," he added.

"Malayo pa ‘to, wala pa kaming nakukuha, and hindi pa tapos ‘yung trabaho."

[The last game was a heartbreaking loss so it’s a relief that we got this win today. There were still a lot of lapses, a lot of errors…. This is far from done, we haven’t won anything yet and the job is not finished.]

—JMB, GMA Integrated News